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I make music using my computer and a cheap MIDI controller as a hobby, and part of my low-budget setup are the AKG K77 Perception headphones. Despite being labeled as 'studio' headphones, which is partly true (you can use them in the studio but you shouldn't rely solely on them), they are definitely not professional headphones, mainly because of their price tag of only about 55 euro (keep in mind that these headphones have been officially discontinued by Harman - the mother-company of AKG), however you can still find them in online stores. The K77's are Harman's attempt at making some low budget, bang-for-buck headphones that should be quite good for the price.
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I have owned these headphones for about 2 years, using them as my main audio source for listening to music, making music, playing videogames, and watching videos/movies, and I can now feel free to make a proper review on them, using my rather limited knowledge in audio, so as a disclaimer, this is NOT a professional review.
I will not be able to make a comparison between the K77 and its main competitors, the Audio Technica ATH-M20X, since I haven't had any experience with the latter. I have no idea how those sound or feel. However, I will be comparing some of the K77's characteristics to a similarily priced pair of headphones that I also own, the Philips SHP3000, which are not studio headphones, but Hi-Fi.
OK, here it goes.
Part 1 - The Build Quality
The build quality of the AKG K77 headphones is one of the most disputed aspects of this product, and is definitely the weakest point of these headphones. However, by saying 'the weakest point' I do not mean they are badly built. Not by far. The first time I opened the K77's box and grabbed the headphones, I was rather let down by how cheap the plastic materials felt - much cheaper quality than my old Philips SHP3000, which for the price feel rather on the premium side - However, despite this, so far the headphones seem to have stood the test of time pretty well - as I said, I've had them for 2 years now and used them pretty much every day, and nothing on them has broken yet. They still feel as solid as they did on day 1.
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The cans are made out of simple gray-coloured plastic, with the 'AKG' and 'K77 PERCEPTION' branding stamped on them. The padding is one of the weaker points. It's made out of a cheap nylon-like material which is quite stiff, and wearing the headphones for a longer period of time will likely make your ear lobes hurt a bit, especially if you have big ears, like me. However, they seem to soften up as time goes by. whenever I wear them now for long, they don't seem to get as uncomfortable as they used to when they were new. The speakers inside are covered with gray cloth which is good, as it doesn't seem to affect the sound quality in any way, and it provides some good protection to the speaker driver. One last thing about the cans, they seem to have little air holes in the back as meny open headphones do, but they are not. That is just the design, and it is pretty easy to notice, even in photos. That is OK though, since these headphones are only semi-open.
The top of the headset is where things get a little different from most modern headphones. They do not have a single plastic/metal strap for holding the headphones on your head. Instead, AKG have adopted an older design, which uses 2 reinforced plastic straps that hold the cans tight against your ears, to provide good sound, and to avoid outside interference, and a lower, black elastic strap that sits tightly on your head, and prevents the headphones from falling off your head, or moving about as you move your head.
The cable is 2.5 meters in lenght, which is plenty for most applications, I would say, and feels solid. I haven't had any connection problems with mine so far.
Obviously, the audio connector is a 3.5 mm jack. Also, included in the package is a 3.5mm to 6.3 mm adapter, if you want to connect the headphones to a mixer, audio interface or a Hi-Fi system.
As for confort, aside from the ear padding problem I mentioned earlier, the headphones are actually pretty confortable, definitely more comfortable than you might expect. The cans can swivel about, so the moment you put the headphones on they will adapt to the size and form of your head and ears.
Overall, despite the choice of lower-end materials, the headphones seem pretty solid and well built, and if you take proper care of them, they will last you as long as you want them to. As I said, mine are 2 years old, and the only 2 things that have started deteriorating are the stitching on the padding, which has started to come loose on a couple of small parts, but I've stitched them back - no biggie - and the elastic strap I mentioned earlier, which has started to loosen.
Part 2 - The Sound Quality
This is where it gets interesting. And probably the part that most of you have been waiting for.
Simply put, these headphones sound good. Really good. I'm actually struggling to find other 55 Euro headphones that sound this well.
Basically, one of the biggest factors that make them sound so good is how well balanced the sound is. These are monitoring headphones, mainly meant to be used in the studio. Therefore, they are supposed to be very balanced. This means that the frequency range is pretty flat all across, trying to reproduce the sounds and the music as it came out of the studio. Obviously, at this low price, don't expect them to be anywhere near the professional standard, but they are close.
The bass is very, very clean. These cans can reproduce low frecuencies quite accurately, being able to hear little subtle bass sounds, wobbles, licks, and stuff like that. However, don't expect them to rip your ears apart with the bass (unless you use an equalizer, in which case they can do that as well). These headphones are NOT meant for that. As I've said, the sound is very balanced, neither the bass, the mids or the treble standing out in terms of volume. If you want louder bass, go for Hi-Fi headphones, which have much more amplified bass and treble, to give a more 'pleasant' sound rather than an accurate reproduction. Also, the K77 can go pretty low in the frecuency range, around 30hz, maybe even a little lower, so they are definitely not lacking in the bass department.
The mids is one of my favourite aspects of this headset. They are very nice and very, very warm sounding. Almost canicularily warm, especially on the ~350hz-800hz area. This makes for very good vocal reproduction, and makes hearing quiet instruments in the background a little bit easier. Aside from this, thanks to the well balanced sound signature I mentioned earlier, the mids are a bit louder than you might expect if you're coming from Hi-Fi Headphones like the Philips SHP3000, which are rather lacking in that aspect. Thanks to this, the K77 treat the bass more like another instrument in the music, rather than just a way to keep you awake, or to make your brains vibrate. This is very good when listening to electronic music, where it makes the mids and the bass go together so well, creating a nice listening atmosphere. A small minus in the mids department would be the fact that at louder volumes, the instrument separation may seem to be a bit poor, but considering the price tag, it isn't horrible.
The high frequency range is also good, but not quite as special or outstanding as the rest, mentioned earlier. The treble is ok most of the time, but frequently you might find them to be a little bit on the muffled side, or rather absent, in a way. Still, you can fix that by, again, using an equalizer to give the treble a little boost, which in most cases does help. The highs are, however, like the rest of the sound, very warm and calming, in a way, and not in any way 'piercing' as I found in many other cheap headphones, sometines even in my SHP3000.
The noise cancelling, which, obviously, isn't active, is not something to write home about. Because the cans are fairly big, and have the over-the-ear format, they do cancel out part of the outside noise, but it's still not great. When using these headphones, especially for audio production related things, you'll want to make sure the room or studio you're in is as quiet as possible, with no one talking or making any noise in the background. In my case, for example, my computer's power supply is very cheap and it makes a lot of noise, and I can definitely hear it through the headphones, and it does get rather irritating at times. Basically, if you want to use these headphones in a crowded environment, you should look for other models with better noise cancelling.
Another small drawback is the soundstage, which seems to me quite small, which, however, is normal for closed back/semi open headphones. If you want a larger soundstage, go for a pair of open back headphones. Like the Philips SHP3000.
Despite the latter couple of small drawbacks, I would say that the sound quality is by far the best aspect of these headphones, and is the main reason why I bought them, replacing my old Philips SHP3000.
Again, what I wrote about the sound quality is my impression of it, not in any way a professional opinion. Even though I make music and know some stuff about sound, I am still far from being a professional.
So... Is it worth buying a cheap pair of studio headphones like the K77?
Definitely! If you are, like me, on a very tight budget (I am a college student at the moment so I can't spend too much money on equipment), you should definitely pick them up while you can. If you can't find them, you could go for the Audio Technica M20X. Even though I've never heard them, I've heard very good things about them. HOWEVER, I would not recommend using these as your ONLY source of studio monitoring. If you can, get a pair of studio monitors, and use the headphones as a secondary way to make sure your music sounds good. Also, if you can, it's definitely a good choice to save up and go for a more expensive pair of proper studio headphones, like the K240 Studio from AKG, which are far better than these, but almost twice the price. Still, if this is all you've got, you're on a very tight budget and need studio monitor headphones, you should definitely pick these up!
Conclusion
PROS
-Very well balanced sound
-Nice and warm sound signature
-Good for secondary studio monitoring
-Well built, durable
-Good Cable
-32 Ohm, which means you won't need an amplifier
CONS
-Soundstage is a bit tight
-Instrument separation is sometimes not very good
-High frequencies seem a bit muffled/quiet at times
-Cheap materials
-Poor noise cancelling
That's pretty much all I can say about these headphones, I hope this review helped you make a purchase!
